d, ** Now was the winter gone and the snow."
e, •* 'Tis thirteen years,
Once more I press the turf that silences the lawn."
/. '* Month after month passed away, and in autumn
the ships of the merchants came."
39. Theme-model 1. in Reproduction. In this
textbook, reproduction, or the putting of the thought
of a piece of literature into a new form or mold,
precedes original composition, which requires us to
find our own r»aterial for themes. Our first efEort
should be to master the general form which our
theme is to take, and while we are struggling with
this problem our materir.! should be furnished.
After matters of technique have become so easy for
us that we need to give them little attention, we
may seek for something original to say. Stevenson,
who was one of the greatest masters of style among
modem writers, gives us his testimony on this point
in a letter to a friend :
"Bow your head to technique. Think of technique
when you rise and when you go to bed. Forget
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From a mural painting in the Pantheon by Juies Eugene Lenepveu
JOAN OF ARC — LISTENING TO THE VOICES
{See pages (x) and /y^)
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A Series of Situations 63
purposes in the meanwhile ; get to love technical pro-
cesses, to glory in technical successes; get to see the
world entirely through technical spectacles, to see it
entirely in terms of what you can. Then when you
have anything to say, the language will be apt and
copious."
Exercise
Write a reproduction of The Lights of London
Town in three situations, giving the four elements,
place, time, character, and occasion, in each. Use
Situation-type I. (§ 25) and supply from your im-
agination details required by the model, but not
gfiven in the poem.
Follow your model as carefully as though you
were tracing a delicate pattern through oiled paper.
Observe the directions given below in regard to the
writing of this reproduction.
Directions
1. In your reproduction put the time element first in
the second and third situations. Review the models for
the time scheme in section j8.
2. Find the participles^ if you have used any. Find
the words these participles modify ^ and underscore them
with a single line,
3. Find any relatives you may have used. Under-
score their antecedents with a single line,
4. Do not change from the active to the passive voice ^
or from the passive to the active^ when the change is
unnecessary,
** As the procession passed, the boy stood on the fence
and his hat was waved in approval." This change of voice
is unnecessary.
5. Follow directions given in previous lessons which
apply here.
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64 Composition and Rlietoric
40. Reproducing Poems Constructed on this
Plan. The following poem has the same plan as
The Lights of London Town^ which was given in sec-
tion 4, and upon which we based our study of
Theme-model I.
THE THREE FISHERS
Three fishers went sailing away to the West,
Away to the West as the sun went down ;
Each thought on the woman who loved him the best,
And the children stood watching them out of the
town;
For men must work, and women must weep.
And there's little to earn, and many to keep.
Though the harbor bar be moaning.
Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,
And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down ;
They looked at the squall, and they looked at the
shower
And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and
brown.
But men must work, and women must weep,
Though storms be sudden, and waters deep,
And the harbor bar be moaning.
Three corpses lay out on the shining sands
In the morning gleam as the tide went down.
And the women are weeping and wringing their
hands
For those who will never come home to the town ;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep ;
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.
— Charles Kingslby.
Suggestions. — Prove that each of these stanzas is a situation.
Are these situations placed in the preparation, at the climax, and
in the sequel, as in Theme-model I.? Note the correspondence in
the first lines of the three stanzas. The characters are mentioned
first each time. Prove this last statement.
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A Series of Situations 65
Exercises
I. Learn the following rule for adding ed and
ing: Monosyllables {fob) and words accented on
the last syllable and ending in a single consonant
preceded by a single vowel {control) double the final
consonant before adding ed or ing.
Add ed and ing to the following, with changes if
necessary: Refer ^ annul, control, debar, concur, bat,
unfit, stir, occur, regret, allot, hem, blot, spot, trim, regain,
sin.
The final consonant is not doubled in the follow-
ing words when ed or ing is added : Prevail, conceal,
goad. Explain why.
Add ed or ing to the following, with changes
where they are necessary : Drop, forget, acquit, pin,
begin, rob. Give each time the rule for spelling these
words when ed or ing is added.
Note. — The rules for spelling may be found in Webster's
International Dictionary, pages xc.-xcii.
II. Reproduce The Three Fishers according to
Theme-model I. and the directions given in sec-
tion 39. Do not think you must use in your repro-
duction all the thought of the poem. Omit material
not called for by your model. This rule applies
not only to this selection, but to all others which
you are asked to reproduce.
III. Examine the spelling of words in your
theme ending in ed or ing, and apply the rule for
adding these endings.
IV. Read Longfellow's The Hanging of the Crane
and George Eliot's Two Lovers and determine whether
they contain more than three situations. Find the
four elements in each situation.
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66 Composition and Rhetoric
41. Reproducing Poems Not Constructed on
this Plan. Poems which are not written in the form
of a series of situations often contain material for
three or more situations and may be reproduced
according to Theme-model I. Any poem which has
a number of striking scenes may be treated in this
way. The following example should be carefully
read and its scenes clearly pictured to the mind :
EXCELSIOR
The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, *mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior !
In happy homes he saw the light
Of household fires gleam warm and bright ;
Above, the spectral glaciers shone.
And from his lips escaped a groan.
Excelsior !
" Try not the Pass ! " the old man said ;
" Dark lowers the tempest overhead.
The roaring torrent is deep and wide ! "
And loud that clarion voice replied.
Excelsior !
** Beware the pine-tree's withered branch !
Beware the awful avalanche ! "
This was the peasant's last Good-night.
A voice replied, far up the height.
Excelsior !
At break of day, as heavenward
The pious monks of Saint Bernard
Uttered the oft-repeated prayer,
A voice cried through the startled air.
Excelsior !
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A Series of Situations 67
A traveler, by the faithful hound,
Half -buried in the snow was found,
Still grasping in his hand of ice
That banner with the strange device,
Excelsior.
There in the twilight cold and gray.
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay.
And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell, like a falling star,
Excelsior !
— Henry W. Longfellow.
Suggestions. — What is an avalanche? An Alpine village?
Who was Saint Bernard? Why is he mentioned here? What is
meant by the word •* Excelsior^'?
The number of situations to be used in repro-
duction will depend upon the material which any
poem contains. Instead of one climax, as in Theme-
model I. (§4), there may be several moments of
strong interest, each requiring a situation. The.
preparation may have more than one step in it, and
so also the sequel, thus making the number of situ-
ations more than three. The poem quoted above
has material for four situations.
Exercises
I. Reproduce Excelsior according to the follow-
ing plan :
Situation I. Find material in paragraphs i, 2, and 3.
Situation II. Find material in paragraph 4.
Situation III. Find material in paragraph 5.
Situation IV. Find material in paragraphs 6 and 7.
This theme-model should be written in four para-
graphs, one for each situation.
Place the time element first in each situation.
II. The rules that apply to the adding of ed and
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68 Composition and Rhetoric
ing (§40) apply also to the adding of er, or^ est, able,
en, ish, or any other sufl&x beginning with a vowel.
Add the proper sufl&xes from the above list to the
following words, with the necessary changes : Thin,
glad, sad, unfit, fop, true, sweet, blue, dismal, bitter, adore,
trace, bluster, move, service.
Examine the spelling of words in your theme
ending with the sufl&xes or, er, est, able, en, ish, and
apply the rules for adding these suflBxes.
Directions
1. In reproducing as a series of situations a poem
which is not written in that form, find:
a. Three or more points of time, either
expressed or implied,
b. Three or more different places (expressed
or implied) if there is a change of scene,
c. Three or more occasions,
d. New characters which may enter into the
second, third, and subsequent situations,
2, When any of the four elements are lacking, supply
them from your own imagination.
These elements are often implied in the poem and enter
into our mental picture without being expressly stated.
42. The Repetition Fault. The following are
illustrations of the purposeless repetition of words
and thoughts. Read these illustrations of this error
and avoid it in your writing :
1. Repeating a word.
" He ascended the mountain to see if he might see
the ships on the sea."
2. Repeating a thought in different words,
Dogberry: Marry, sir, they have committed false
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A Series of Situations 69
report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; seconda-
rily, they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have belied
a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust things; and, to
conclude, they are lying knaves.
Don Pedro : First, I ask thee what they have done;
thirdly, I ask thee whafs their offense; sixth and lastly,
why they are committed; and, to conclude, what you
lay to their charge ? „•
•^ *. — William Shakspere,
Much Ado About Nothing, Act s^ Sc, i.
Shallow: By cock and pye, sir, you shall not away
to-night.
Falstaff: You must excuse me, Master Robert
Shallow.
Shallow : I will not excuse you; you shall not be
excused; excuses shall not be admitted; there is no excuse
shall serve ; you shall not be excused .
— William Shakspere, Henry IV,, Part II., Actj, Sc. i.
Suggestions. — i. In the last two examples Shakspere obtains
a comic efifect by senseless repetition.
2. Notice examples of repetition in the extract from The
Bear Story, section 20.
43. Theme-model I. and the Description of Pic-
tures. A story may be told by a painter in a series
of pictures. The three pictures facing pages 62, 78,
and 106 give us some notion of the life of Joan of
Arc. After examining these pictures look up the
subject in a history or encyclopedia and find out
how nearly correct your conjectures were.
Exercise
Write and gfive orally the life of Joan of Arc
according to Theme-model I., the three situations
being descriptions of the three pictures of her in
the order in which they are arranged. Tell which of
these pictures seems to you truest to the details of
historic fact ; which the most imaginative ; which the
most beautiful. Find other pictures of Joan of Arc.
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70 Composition and Rhetoric
44. Theme-model I. in Subjects from Life and
History. We have now become so familiar with
the series of situations that we should be able to
use it as easily and unconsciously as if it were our
own invention. We are therefore prepared to turn
our attention to the question of finding our own
material. In addition to the subjects suggested in
the following exercises, the student should select
others of his own, and thus open his eyes to the
possibilities of his every-day life in the way of liter-
ary material. No one has spoken more eloquently of
the charm and beauty which the artist may find in
the commonplace than Carlyle in his Essay on Burns :
" The ordinary poet, like the ordinary man, is forever
seeking in external circumstances the help which can
be found only in himself. In what is familiar and near
at hand, he discerns no form or comeliness ; home, is
not poetical, but prosaic; it is in some past, distant,
conventional, heroic world, that poetry resides ; were he
there and not here, were he thus and not so; it would be
well with him. Hence our innumerable host of rose-
colored Novels and iron-mailed Epics, with their local-
ity not on the Earth, but somewhere nearer to the
Moon. Hence our Virgins of the Sun and Knights of
the Cross, malicious Saracens in turbans, and copper-
colored Chiefs in wampum, and so many other truculent »
figures from the heroic times or the heroic climates, who
on all hands swarm in our poetry. Peace be with them \
But yet, as a great moralist proposed preaching to the
men of this century, so would we fain preach to the
poets, *a sermon on the duty of staying at home.' Let
them be sure that heroic ages and heroic climates can
do little for them. That form of life has attraction for
us, less because it is better or nobler than our own, than
simply because it is different ; and even this attraction
must be of the most transient sort But
happily every poet is born in the world ; and sees it,
with or against his will, every day and every hour he
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A Series of Situations 71
lives. The mysterious workmanship of man's heart,
the true light and inscrutable darkness of man's des-
tiny, reveal themselves not onlv in capital cities and
crowded saloons, but in every nut and hamlet where
men have their abode It is not the mate-
rial but the workman that is wanting. It is not the
dark place that hinders, but the dim eye, A Scottish
peasant's life was the rudest and meanest of lives, till
Bums became a poet in it, and a poet of it ; found it a
man's life and therefore significant to men."
Exercises
I. Write an original story, according to Theme-
model I., on any of the following topics. Use
Situation-type I. (§ 25) for each of the situations.
1. The life story of some one you know personally.
The life you choose should be one of vicissitudes.
2. The life of some historical character : Benedict
Arnold, Nathan Hale.
3. Some incident recorded in the daily newspaper.
It must not be sensational or trivial, and must furnish
material for the preparation, climax, and sequel. (See
85.)
4. Three Christmas days in a person's life or in the
experience of a family.
5. Three or more birthdays, showing changes in the
circumstances of a person.
6. Visits to grandmother, — in childhood, youth, and
manhood.
II. Write on one of the following subjects :
1. A day's fishing.
2. A shopping adventure.
3. A ride for life.
4. A boat race.
In such subjects as these, take as your points for
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72 Composition and Rhetoric
the three situations, — the starting out, the most
exciting point in the incident, the return home.
Others of this character will suggest themselves to
you.
III. Reproduce the following anecdotes or some
others that may occur to you :
A certain king besieged and took a castle in his
enemy's country. By the terms of surrender all the
men were to be made prisoners, but the women were
to be allowed to leave the castle with as much of their
treasure as they could convey. To the surprise of the
king, each woman came down the hill from the castle
carrying on her back her husband, father, or brother
— her greatest treasure. The men were given their
freedom, and the women allowed to return for their
possessions.
Tell this story in three situations according to
the following plan :
Situation I. The king announcing the terms of the
surrender.
Situation II. The exit of the women carrying the men.
Situation III. The king bidding the men go free, and
permitting the women to return to the
castle for their treasure.
II.
The poet Rogers was very kind to his servants, and
kept them many years in his employ, in fact, generally
until they died. On the occasion of the death of one of
these old servants, a friend of the poet was offering
his condolences. "Well, I don't know," said Rogers,
" that I feel his loss so very much after all. For the
first seven years he was an obliging servant; for the
second seven years, an agreeable companion, and for
the last seven, a tyrannical master."
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A Series of Situations 73
Situation I. The obliging servant.
Situation II. The agreeable companion.
Situation III. The tyrannical master.
III.
" The Rope of Ocnus " is the name of a celebrated
picture painted by Polygnotus, a distinguished Greek
painter who died about 426 B. C
Ocnus was the name of a poor but industrious Greek,
whose extravagant wife spent his money as fast as he
earned it. He complained to Polygnotus of his trials
and tribulations in this respect, ana Polygnotus painted
the picture alluded to above.
The picture represents a poor man weaving a rope
out of straw, while behind him stands an ass eating oflE
the other end of the rope. The silent lesson conveyed
by the picture is said to have had the desired effect
upon the wife of Ocnus, and by her frugality and thrift
she enabled him soon to rise from obscurity to great
^ ^ y* — S. H. KiLLiKELLY. CuHous QuesttOHS,
Situation I. Ocnus discussing his troubles with Poly-
gnotus.
Situation II. Ocnus explaining the picture to his wife.
Situation III. The wife of Ocnus reformed.
Suggestions. — In writing upon any of these subjects you will
have to supply, from ^our imagination, some of the elements in
each situation. The giving of the time of day, together with the
pjeriod or month, or any of the larger divisions of time, in a situa-
tion, always makes the scene seem more real
45. The Rewriting of Themes. No doubt the
student has already discovered that the written
theme frequently does not come up to his expecta-
tions; that the materials have not taken quite the
shape his brain conceived. For the skill to express
our thought as we have conceived it, much practice
is required and much patient toil. An excellent
exercise in acquiring this skill is the rewriting of
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74 Composition and Rhetoric
themes in the light of the teacher's corrections. As
many of the student's themes as time will allow
should be rewritten, for when the student is familiar
with the materials, all his attention can be given to
the correction of errors and to the acquirement of
skill in handling the material. He should not, how-
ever, spend so much time on subjects on which he
has already written that his interest is killed.
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CHAPTER V.
RETROSPECTIVE NARRATIVE
46. Definition and Forms of Retrospective Nar-
rative. Narrative which gives the story of events
that happened before the time of the situation is
called retrospective narrative; that is, narrative which
looks backward.
Retrospective Narrative may take three princi-
pal forms: {a) Dialogue, (p) Author's Narrative, and
(r) Vision, — terms which will be explained as we
go along. In this chapter we shall study the first
form, that in which the story is brought up to the
time of the situation by means of dialogue. The
next chapter deals with Author's Narrative and
Vision.
47. Retrospective Narrative and the Situation
Combined. Each of the four theme-models dis-
cussed in this and the following chapter combines
retrospective narrative and the situation. These
models enable us to review all we have learned about
composition thus far, and to add to the situation a
new narrative motive.
48. Colloquial Origin of this Form. Like the
series of situations with which we are now so familiar,
the method of narration that we are about to study
is one which we find people using in conversation.
Is not the way in which the following story is
told natural and familiar ?
(75)
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y6 Composition and Rhetoric
Suppose that a friend of yours who is calling
upon you says in the course of the conversation :
" I saw your old friend Jameson in London last sum-
mer. I started out one afternoon to visit Westminster
Abbey and met him at the door as I was entering."
"Indeed?" you answer; "I am glad to hear from
him again, even indirectly. It is many years since we
met, though I used to hear from him occasionally
through Colonel Summers."
" By the way, did he ever tell you how he and the
Colonel happened to become such warm friends?"
" I always supposed that the Colonel knew his father
as a boy."
"No, they met first in a restaurant on Broadway.
They happened to be seated at the same table, and when
the Colonel came to pay for his lunch, he found he had
no money. His pocket had been picked. Jameson let
him have the money, and the Colonel took his name and
address. Jameson heard nothing from the old gentle-
man, however, until the following Christmas, when he
received a check for one hundred dollars and an invita-
tion to dinner. They saw each other often that winter,
and the next summer Jameson visited the World's Fair
as the Colonel's guest. There he became acquainted
with one of the English Commissioners, who secured for
him, upon returning to England, the position he now
holds in London with Burton & Co."
"Well, he has been very fortunate in this friendship."
"Yes, and I never could understand why anyone
should take such a fancy to him. He always seemed to
me a very erratic fellow."
Let us try to analyze this story into its elements.
1. We have first a situation, — the characters,
yourself and a friend ; the place, your parlor, prob-
ably; time, evening, perhaps; the occasion, a call.
2. Next we have a story told by one of the
characters. This story grows naturally out of the
conversation and deals with events which happened
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Retrospective Narrative yy
before the time of the situation. It is, therefore, an
example of retrospective narrative.
Let us now examine a piece of literature written
in this form.
49. The Selection used as Theme-model II.
The following poem by Southey contains a situation
and retrospective narrative in dialogue. It should
be read carefully, together with the outline of it in
section 50:
THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM
Situation It was a summer evening ;
Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun ;
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.
Transition She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet,
In playing there, had found :
He came to ask what he had found.
That was so large and smooth and round.
Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by ;
And then the old man shook his head,
And with a natural sigh, —
"*Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory."
" Now tell us what *t was all about,"
Young Peterkin he cries ;
And little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder- waiting eyes ;
" Now tell us all about the war.
And what they fought each other for."
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78 Composition and Rhetoric
RetrospeC' " It was the English," Kaspar cried,
tive "Who put the French to rout ;
Narrative But what they fought each other for,
I could not well make out ;
But everybody said," quoth he,
"That 'twas a famous victory.
" My father lived at Blenheim then.
Yon little stream hard by ;
They burnt his dwelling to the ground.
And he was forced to fly ;
So with his wife and child he fled.
Nor had he where to rest his head.
" They say it was a shocking sight
After the field was won ;
For many thousand bodies here
Lay rotting in the sun ;
But things like that, you know, must be
After a famous victory.
"And everybody praised the duke,
Who this great fight did win."
Conclusion "But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
" Why, that I cannot tell," said he,
" But 't was a famous victory."
— Robert Southey.
Suggestions. — Who asks the questions ? Who answers ?
Does the retrospective narrative deal with the complete life of